Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley, California Office
Last week one of my longtime writing friends hit a wall with her novel. She began to doubt her skills, her story and even her genre. Here’s what I wrote to her:
Don’t get caught up in how serious your characters are. Or how literary or important your book is for that matter. Too many writers get all tangled up in the quest for the great American novel. You can’t make that happen–it’s not within your control.
All we’re called to do is tell a great story with as much skill as we can muster. Just think what the words, “Once upon a time. . .” do to us. Goosebumps. Or think of Jesus sitting down and saying, “There was a certain poor widow. . .” We all settle in to listen to the story.
There’s a great tradition of bards and storytellers from the African griots to the Scottish bards to the American folksingers. As novelists, we just need to crouch down beside them and begin to wind out the story.
We can get creatively constipated by focusing on the outcome like peer approval or gaining some kind of classic status, instead of on the process. We’re not called to worry about the outcome, we’re only called to faithfully do the work.
So finish the story. We’re all sitting around the fire waiting. As soon as you’ve promised “once upon a time” you gotta finish the story.
- Crisis of Confidence–This is when you stare at the computer and say, “Whatever made me think I could write a book and get it published?” Who does this sound like? It’s not coming from the one who sent you a message in Philippians 4:13.
- Story Collapse–Trust me, this happens in almost every book, fiction and nonfiction. There comes a point when nothing seems to be working. It all sounds like dreck. That’s the time to put your head down and push through. Chances are, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong that can’t be fixed it in the rewrite. Just honor the process by faithfully pushing through.
- Competition Blues–You know this one. You’re more than halfway through your book when you see the review of a book that bears a strong resemblance to your manuscript. Zeitgeist. It’s bound to happen. After you put away all the sharp knives, get back to work. No one can tell the story you’re going to tell. No one sees the subject of your nonfiction book the way you do. No one will present the same answers. And no one has your distinct voice. Truth to tell there are only so many stories, so many subjects.
- Inner Critic–Some of us can never silence our inner critic. On certain days he wants us to strive for a more literary tone. Other days he slaps us down because we sound so high-falutin’. There’s no pleasing the fickle inner critic. Just ignore him.
- Genre Angst–This one makes my jaw clench. You are writing a poignant story that takes place on the wide western plains when everyone in your online writers’ group starts disparaging prairie romance. You begin to second guess. Stop it! The genre doesn’t matter, it’s the quality of the story. Is Sarah, Plain and Tall a prairie romance? Technically it is. It’s also a classic–a masterpiece. If I hear one more writer disparage Amish fiction, I’m going to tear out my hair. Readers want to read it. Publishers want to buy it. And there are some exquisite pieces of literature being written about the Amish. (Take a look at Levi’s Will by Dale Cramer.)
- Chasing the Market–You’re busily at work on an urban contemporary when you read an article that says urban contemporaries are so last year. Don’t buy into this. I could tell you dozens of success stories. If a market is absolutely closed, all it takes is one stellar book, and it will be the hottest new thing.
- Financial Detour–Sometimes reality steps in, and we have to set aside dreams to go out and earn a few shekels. Don’t let this stop you. Writing only one hour a day will net you more than a book a year.
- Lack of Deadline–If the time frame is open-ended, we may never finish a project. Set a hard and fast deadline for yourself. Have friends hold you accountable.
- Distracted by Shiny Objects–This can be a problem, especially for the artist in all of us. We get so sidetracked by new projects, by ministry by. . . well, by life. Consider your book a commitment to yourself.
- The Odds–You’ve heard it. The odds of getting an agent and getting a book published are daunting. You’ve read that some agents get upwards of a hundred queries per week. You do the math–the odds make it a long shot that you’ll ever get published. Why not quit now? There couldn’t be a sillier reason. With writing, unless every book were exactly the same, you can’t talk about odds. Do you know how many of these queries are not even remotely publishable? Getting published is not about random odds. It’s all in your control. A stunning book will find that advocate within the publishing community. You simply need to write that book and faithfully get it out there.
You’ve obviously had your hidden cameras trained on my study. Thanks for the encouraging words about the bugaboos that seem to hit every writer at one time or another.
The crisis of confidence hits me often. Mercifully, it doesn’t leave me staring at a blank computer. It does keep me from sending it out. Even when invited by agents to do so.
I keeping thinking how I can make it better. Thanks for the reminder to remember who such thoughts come from!
This is a great post. All of these things are helpful to keep in mind, and probably most of us become afflicted by them at one point or another. Thanks.
Wow. A friend of mine emailed me this morning and said “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS RIGHT NOW”, basically.
Competition Blues is absolutely me. Right down to the non-fiction reference.
The other thing I struggle with is instant gratification.
I write a fairly successful blog and the time and energy I spend there is rewarded with instant feedback. I’ve told myself that the attention and energy I’m leaking onto my blog is taking away from finishing my book – but that’s guaranteed. What if I walk from that to finish a manuscript that never goes anywhere?
The inner critic is my worst enemy, always! Are there others with more confidence out there, or is confidence just a facade?
I am persevering despite genre issues. I’ve written chick lit, which is apparently horribly unpopular right now. But it’s not Manolo-wearing, Cosmo-drinking, having-sex-in-an-attempt-to-find-Mr.Right chick lit… it’s smarter than that. So I’m just waiting to find an agent who believes in it and is willing to try to sell it despite the market.
Thank you so, so much, Wendy! Crisis of confidence hits me daily, hourly in fact. My finished novel is with an agent, so that’s a step in the right direction. But, in order to really move forward on the next book, I still have to fight the lack of confidence every day. You’ve done writers a great service by posting this!
Ah! I just blogged about my love-hate relationship with my current project. I’m so glad I’m not alone. Thank you for this, Wendy. It’s a great collection of the issues and how to overcome them.
Everyone sitting around the fire, waiting? I love that thought.
One I call “The Rules”. Writer starts out with what he believes to be a great idea. Begins to write, then bumps up against writer’s loops, blogs, craft books, etc. that cause him to believe he’s doing it all wrong. Eventually the enthusiasm and confidence die and the story grinds to a halt. Could also come from a particularly harsh critique.
Some writers never recover, and some try so hard to follow all the rules, they never move beyond that to story completion and submission.
Bravo! Thanks, Wendy.
What a wonderful and liberating post. It is nice to see that I am not in this boat alone. Crisis of confidence hits me the hardest. I often ask myself questions like, why me? Why would anyone want to read what I have to say? Then, I step back and remember that there is a purpose to His plan and He will equip me. Like you stated in your blog, I was not called to worry about the outcome, only to faithfully do the work. The outcome is all God’s job!!
Thank you again for sharing these roadblocks along with the great advice and steps to help break through. I am going to print it off and place it in a prominent spot as a reminder to not give up on the work He has called me to do!!
lgrace2
Hey there, Wendy!! I love, love, love this post!! I ESPECIALLY love the quote “creatively constipated.” LOL!! I am in the middle of a massive rewrite on a manuscript my agent has making the rounds. Going off feedback from certain editors, I’m addressing some problems that I sorta kinda knew, but sorta kinda ignored until now. Self-doubt is the biggest killer for me. It makes me close the screen of my manuscript and go play Spider Solitaire all too often!! Your post has given me added inspiration to get in there and plug away!!
Hugs and blessings to you,
Michelle Shocklee
Patricia, you’ve hit on one of my pet peeves. Following the rules can completely strip your writing of style and voice.
For instance, you’ve heard “show not tell.” It’s a great rule of thumb, but you don’t want to apply it indiscriminately. It will ruin pacing. We tell where we need to speed things up and we show where we want our reader to linger. We often tell (offstage) where it’s too gruesome, graphic or too sexually explicit for our readers. Telling the right parts of our story is just as artful as showing.
I see manuscripts where every miniscule detail is carefully shown and by the second page, the reader is worn out.
Yep, the rules can kill an otherwise good story.
ROFL. This was a great post, but I had to laugh at the Amish fiction thing. Because I’m coming at it from the viewpoint: If I hear one more person defend Amish fiction, I’m going to pull my hair out. I can’t find anything to read because it’s all Amish! *wail* Okay, so maybe not, but still. Hehe.
As a Christian who writes, I might also add that it’s extremely important to know and hit publishers who serve the market of Christians you’re writing for. Because I had TONS of readers from the CBA market, I thought I might go there with my sequel. I learned that my style of writing doest not fit inside their box. Fortunately, I learned this right away!!! I found a non-affiliated Christian publisher instead and am flying right along. 🙂
God is good.
Great post. I related to the part where you said, “We’re not called to worry about the outcome, we’re only called to faithfully do the work.”
That’s so true. Write what God calls you to write, He will take care of the outcome. NOT that you’re just supposed to write then sit passively…that’s not His intent either I don’t think.
But rest in Him and He’ll drive you in the direction you need to go once it’s written.
This post was spot on, Wendy. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments too!
Lynn Rush wrote: I’ve enjoyed reading the comments too!
Isn’t that the truth? That’s why we encourage comments here on the Books & Such blog. They are rich and instructive. You’ll often get more from the comments than. . . well, I won’t confess.
It’s rare for us to get one-liners (though we love those as well). But thank you, commenters for your willingness to jump in and share your wisdom (and your hair-pulling) with other writers.
Thanks for the timely post. I’m currently not working on a book, but another, very important to me, writing project and had effectively tied myself up in knots over it. Your blog is untying the knots. 🙂
Wow! This one is going on the bulletin board. Thanks!
My worst ones are:
Story collapse–it all feels like drek in the middle. I’m saved by being in a crit group with an anal retentive leader who demands a chapter a week or you’re out. I can write almost two rough drafts a year, this way.
Inner critic–when I write funny and I read deep I think I’m shallow and stupid. So then I write deep and read funny and I think I’m so dark and stupid. heh heh either way I’m stupid. How does that work? The solution for the inner critic for me is to read funny books when I’m writing funny and deep books when I’m writing deep. For years I avoided reading what I was writing, afraid I’d inadvertently borrow. I’ve found, now, that reading similar books actually makes me learn and grow and move beyond what I’m reading. The books stir my imagination.
Great words of wisdom, girl! Do you ever get over the fact that others go through the same stuff you do? Thanks for exposing my ugly dark corners to the light of “we’re all in the same boat!”
GREAT post, Wendy. You’ve hit them all for me and it couldn’t have been more timely. I have a goal to finish a historical romance by ACFW—my own imposed deadline. If you see me there, feel free to ask me if I’ve finished it! 🙂 Right now I’ve got to ignore my inner critic.
Blessings!
“Creative constipation,” “Distracted by shiny objects,” LOL too funny–and too accurate. Bless you for the comforting encouragement, Wendy.
Wendy, fantastic post! Distracted by shiny objects? Um, yep. When I first began writing, I was also pursuing an acting career. After missing critique meetings for auditions and vise versa, I realized both crafts were suffering as a result of my split devotion.
I decided to switch gears and focus solely on writing, funneling all of my artistic energy into this one craft. While I do think writers can pursue other interests (a.k.a. material for future manuscripts!), I have never regretted my decision.
I’m trusting God to keep me focused on this path until He tells me to turn. 🙂
Inner critic. Story collapse. And being overwhelmed by how much I don’t know, but need to learn, to tell my story (a historical). Those tend to be my roadblocks. I’ve learned the only way to remove them is one stone at a time. Except on those blessed occasions when they are plucked out of my path by someone else, something this post has accomplished this morning. Thank you!
Aaaargh.
““Whatever made me think I could write a book and get it published?”
How did you get into my brain to get that?
Thanks for the article. VERY helpful.
This is very helpful, Wendy. Writing books doesn’t get any easier and my internal critic has been sceaming at me. Will tell her to shut up now!
What does ‘dreck’ mean? It must be a US word.
I’m so relieved. I’m doing a rewrite and had just been thinking, “Who am I kidding?” I came up with several of the excuses above and did a major crash. Found your blog via twitter! I feel like I can breathe again. Thanks for opening the door. Bless you, Wendy!
Everyday I thank God you are my agent. And everyday you give me another reason to be ever more thankful.
You – Wendy – rock.
Re: Dreck. An American word, indeed, Liz. Not.
It’s German/ Yiddish word meaning trash. Etymology: Yiddish drek & German Dreck, from Middle High German drec; akin to Old English threax rubbish
It’s a great word– almost an onomatopoeia. Once you add it to your vocabulary you’ll find way too many opportunities to use it.
This was great! Loved it and passed it along to all my authors.
Lack of a Deadline & Distracted by shinyobjects are my downfall.
It’s probably the same principal as a financial detour but sometimes life just broadsides you, and you need to let the writing rest for a bit. I call them Sudden Storms and always remind myself that they’re only that – a detour. Usually you come out of them with a much richer look at life and more fodder for your characters or even an entirely new book plot!
The others are certainly true though. But rather than get stuck looking at other books or other writers (and that includes the market, the “rules” and all those things that make it look impossible), I get back to my own writing and think “Well – why not me?” I’m not sure it always passes muster as a work ethic, but if God called me to it, then I just gotta do it.
The “rules” really threw me when I first started becoming aware of them. I felt like I was totally out of my element and became very discouraged. Now I’ve spent the past few years learning my craft and also about the business of writing. Funny thing happened, I’ve been building my confidence up again. Now if I think I can just get enough gusto to prepare my proposal.
I forgot to mention, I invited a local Christian (multipublished) author to my home for a visit. She asked me what I was writing. When I told her she said she had just submitted a book of the same topic and title to her agent who didn’t think it would work. She tried to encourage me saying that there are many ways to tell that story. Dejected, I don’t think I wrote for months. I finally got back in the saddle and am still working on the novel.
Oh my soul, I LOVE you for this comment: “[Show Don’t Tell is] a great rule of thumb, but you don’t want to apply it indiscriminately. It will ruin pacing. We tell where we need to speed things up and we show where we want our reader to linger.” Yes, please! Thank you thank you thank you, and did I mention thank you?
This is such a great post, Wendy. And way too convicting, though I’m not about to tell you which pitfalls . . . Ooooh, shiny!
You’re my hero. (Would you mind giving me a deadline?)
Love, Jeanne
Thank you, Wendy.
I love deadlines and have the hardest time imposing a deadline on myself. I NEVER miss a deadline I’ve had from other projects, but I must not respect my own deadline. LOL.
I analyze everything to death. That is usually the death of my stories. Analyzed. To. Death.
‘Dreck’ Yiddish. How cool. I’ve danced Yiddish style with some of my Messianic friends. The steps are very small, but not rubbish!
Your words have blessed me today in ways I can’t possibly discribe in this space! I am going to take your encouraging words and pretend that you said them just for me! (okay, your orginal friend can take the credit as your muse)
I had read that the Gone With the Wind author wrote only the above book somewhere. My biggest fear on writing a book was, “Will I be able to pop out another one and another one like popcorn?” I feared starting and found myself writing without an outline. It got me stuck on chapter 3. The old fears returned and I tried again. God helped.
Currently, for my The Origin Series, I am in the midst of Book One, The Rose Door, and have outlined up to three more books in the series using history and Bible stories. I did not think I could do it, but I am doing it and getting past my stuck point.
Thank you, Wendy. The deadline comment is so true for me. I feel it is SO important to stay on task or other things start popping up that need your attention and your manuscript ends up on the back burner.
And I loved your comment about God helping and guiding us when and where we need to go. That made my heart sing. It is something I try everyday not to forget.
I get the same way with my blog. I have to literally schedule days to not blog. It’s way too distracting.
I can relate to this post. Sometimes my distraction is a tangible thing. However, once I commit to hankering down to writing I have this odd ability to step out of the expectations box and live in the moment- let the story flow naturally.
I suspect this skill is due to the fact that I’m not yet published, and don’t have the pressure established authors do. Let’s hope not.
Sally- I had the same fear of accidentally borrowing when I started my first novel. I didn’t read anything new, and reread old stuff just to make sure I wasn’t stealing latent plots.
When I hit a dead end with editing, I decided to take a break and read. It was the best decission because I realized how in the loop I was. I was so deep in my own work I couldn’t see how it would be relevant to anyone else, or appealing to readers.
Reading other authors’ material made me realize I was good enough and I could maybe even do better.
All I need is my chance to prove that.
Thank you for the inspiration! This post is worthy of bookmarking for future reference
when I’m feeling the writing blues.
Kimberley
You seem to understand writers and the writing process so well, Wendy! LOL I think most of us are pretty insecure about our talent. I guess that’s why I entered so many contests last year. It can be very validating.
Thanks for writing this blog. Very helpful.
Thank you, Wendy! Very encouraging words. I’ve tried to fire my inner critic, but he just keeps showing up at my doorstep with his finger wagging at me like its my fault.
There’s a small dent in my wall where I have repeatily rammed my head because I am constantly thinking, “Me? Write a book? I’ve worked so long on writing and have only gotten published for free. Can I compete with the authors I admire and join that prestigious club?”
Truly your “best of the best,” Wendy. Thanks for sharing it again. I need your words as much now as the first time around.
Everything you said was oh-so-terribly encouraging, and I’ll take it all to heart. But it was the bit about creative constipation that made me laugh out loud. Oh how true. LOL
Wendy, thank you again for a post that grabs such common problems and drags them out into the light of day. I kept reading down the list and thinking, “Uh-huh, uh-huh, yep…”
I have set a deadline. January of next year is going to see me in the query queue. Those of you who are into praying, please join me in a request that I stick with this and make it.
This is a brilliant analysis that is right on the money.
thanks so much,
Ed Hird+
http://battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com
Wow….yes to all! Probably mostly the time problem more than anything. I work full time and am running my kid to all her events at night, so finding that time clock to punch to make my writing a steady thing…is a challenge. Because of that…because I can’t make it a career yet…causes confidence crises. Can I do this? Am I just spinning my wheels? Then I kick myself and get going again. And the genre thing…LOL…my problem is mine tend to stretch across a few, and don’t fall neatly in a slot. If you look at movies and TV instead of books, I write romantic comedy and dramedy. Not really (eeek) chick lit because it’s not that fluffy, not true romance. Not women’s fiction because it isn’t a woman on a journey. Now my latest adds seeing ghosts to the mix, so add paranormal to the list. So I get stressed on how to query such a thing! Hence, competition…hence confidence… You hit the nail on the head!! Thanks Wendy for this post.
Thank you, Wendy.
I’ve been going through a crisis of belief (about my writing – not my Christian beliefs) for the past month. After hanging my head at yet another family gathering when asked, “how’s the book coming,” your post is just what I needed.
Bless you.
I’m going to be honest.
I have a love/hate relationship with blogs. I learn so much from them, have made some wonderful friends, and have learned many things about craft, publishing, etc.
But at the same time, reading these blogs make me feel, well, stupid.
To quote from your entry:
“Whatever made me think I could write a book and get it published?”
Britt,
It’s the difference between dreaming great dreams of becoming an Olympic figure skater, and the first time your chin smacks hard ice.
She who gets up, slaps a band-aid on it, and keeps going, has the best chance of winning through.
The blogs/forums/crit groups/beta readers are your ice rink: now get up, find your band-aid, and use the education you’re receiving.
Carpe diem!
I needed to read this article. It’s so easy to get bogged down. thanks. Nikki
Carpe band-aids!!! 🙂
Wow, did I need this one this week! (Down to feeling like a zero and headed for the negative numbers.) So glad I re-read it, Wendy. Thanks!